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Reginald Jeeves
'Reginald Jeeves, '''one of the two titular characters of ''Jeeves and Wooster, is the butler- or in his own words, "Gentleman's personal Gentleman"- of Bertie Wooster. An exceptionally intelligent and efficient valet and housekeeper with a vast range of knowledge and connections, Jeeves acts as an advisor and mentor figure to Bertie and is usually the one who rescues him from the chaos Bertie inevitable becomes caught in. Jeeves is played by acclaimed comedian, actor and director Stephen Fry, while his counterpart Bertie Wooster is played by Fry's long-time comedy partner and friend Hugh Laurie. Relationship with Bertie and others: Jeeves first comes into Bertie's employment in the first episode of the series, "Jeeves takes Charge". As suggested from the title, Jeeves quickly and efficiently inserts himself into his master's household, impressing Bertie immediately with his immaculate housekeeping, cooking, drink-mixing and morning-after concoctions (particularly necessary for Bertie, who spends a great deal of his time partying and drinking at the Drones club). Although sometimes despairing of Bertie's hapeless nature, Jeeves is genuinely loyal to him as a matter of principal and seems to grow fond of him as the series progresses. His loyalty does not extend to Bertie's friends at the Drones' Club, whom he often (correctly) sees as the cause of most of Bertie's misfortunes, but he nonetheless helps them by extension. Jeeves has a great deal of patience towards Bertie and (for the most part) carrys out his orders obediently, though he will offer his own opinion or counter-proposal if he feels Bertie's intentions will result in touble, or he may deliberately disobey Bertie to produce better results for himself and his master, which he inevitably does. Bertie- who tends to confide his plans to Jeeves, most of which involve helping out his irresponsible friends or getting out of one of his many engagements- tends to mostly scorn the valet's initial advice (though he becomes more and more receptive towards it over the course of the series, having recognized the value of Jeeves' intellect). Inveitably, Bertie's own ill-thought plans fall into mishap, causing him to regret ignoring Jeeves. However, Jeeves inevitably salvages the situation for Bertie in the end, to which Bertie responds with deep gratitude. Jeeves has often served as Bertie's accomplice in his schemes, sometimes seeming to gain amusement from the experiences when Bertie suffers minor indignities. While Jeeves adamantly refuses to join Bertie if the actions required are criminal, he will commit illegal actions to get Bertie or his friends out of trouble so long as they are covert. Examples include knocking out Constable Oats from behind in "Hot off the Press" and posing as a policeman to remove Bertie from a tight spot in "Right Ho, Jeeves" and "Trouble at Totleigh Towers". The only times Jeeves left Bertie's employment was in "Jeeves in the Country" when Bertie makes it clear he intends to move to the country rather than stop playing the trombone, which he has no skill at and was drawing complaints from his neighbors. Despite his friendly feelings towards Bertie, Jeeves makes it equally clear he will give his notice if Bertie intends to continue playing, and he promptly takes employment with Bertie's friend and rival Lord Chuffnell. However, this does not stop him assisting Bertie with his latest plan (albeit reluctantly) and by the end of the episode, he returns to Bertie, much to the former's relief. Jeeves' few feuds with Bertie usually consist of matters such as attire or music (he privately abhors Bertie's musical tastes on the piano). Examples include monogramed handkerchiefs, a straw boater, a Tyrolean hat, a moustache, a fedora. a rediculously heavy fur coat, a white dinner jacket, etc. When they disagree, Jeeves always concedes with a disapproving "Very good, sir" which leaves Bertie second-guessing the object of their quarrel. Inevitably, at the end of the episode, the article is either thrown out willingly by Bertie or privately destroyed by Jeeves. Also , whenever Bertie takes an interest in a girl whom Jeeves privately disapproves of (usually because she is 'not worthy of Bertie' or will likely give him a hard time)the valet always manages to engineer a breakup of some kind by the end of the episode- leaving no doubt as to who is the real ''master of the Wooster household. Personality and skills Jeeves is extremely intellectual, having a wealth of detailed knowledge ranging from current events to popular culture, history, geography, literature and social etiquette. He readily makes references to these in his conversations to Bertie (sometimes to Bertie's exasperation, as Bertie is not always able to grasp said references) to illustrate his points. Extremely observant of the world around him, Jeeves' scheming abilities would make both Machiavelli and Sherlock Holmes proud; he single-handedly pulls together many variables and, by the end of the episode, has managed to repair all the damage caused by Bertie/ the Drones, and occasionally improve his and Bertie's situation. He always presents himself as charming, polite, calm and collected, although he occasionally shows despair or irritation at his employer's stubbornness. However, there is at least one occasion where Jeeves showed genuine anger: a favorite niece of his had apparently been jilted by her fiance- who later turned out to be Bertie's friend Charles "Biffy" Edward Biffin. In "Pearls mean Tears" Bertie attempts to seek Jeeve's help in freeing Biffy from his latest engagement (to Honoria Glossop); Jeeves coldly refuses. However, when he learns that Biffy was still very much in love with his niece and had simply forgotten the name of her hotel (Biffy being famous for his terrible memory) he quickly relents and arranges a scenario that allows the couple to reunite. In "The Purity of the Turf", Jeeves is insulted by a page-boy on his appearance, and attempts to chase him down "with a view to fetching him a clip on the head" suggesting he cares deeply about his appearance and dignity. One of the few things that can sometimes cause Jeeves to lose control of himself are seemingly minor breaches of dress etiquette. When Richard "Bingo" Little is explaining his problem to Jeeves, Jeeves (staring at Bingo's tie) abruptly excuses himself and retreats into the kitchen; Bertie finds him at the counter staring blankly into space. When Bertie asks him what is going on, Jeeves hastily apologizes, explaining that he had been horrified by "the little horseshoes" on Bingo's tie. Later in "The Full House", Todd "Rockie" Rockmateller is explaining a similar problem to Bertie and Jeeves, and mentions that he usually spends the entire day in his pajamas. Bertie, realizing this will mortify Jeeves, hastily tells him not to listen, only to hear a groan and turn to see Jeeves sitting down, his face in his hands. Jeeves is also so precise in his grammar and diction that he often misunderstands slang or takes it literally, especially during his and Bertie's stay in New York City. Jeeves' hobbies and leisure activities are difficult to determine, as he is usually seen attending to Bertie's needs or helping him in his schemes. While knowledgeable of the lifestyle and general preferences of the working class, and always very polite when interacting with them, he generally prefers the company of "true gentlemen" and leans towards high culture; examples include his remark to Roderick Spode that "the working masses and I have barely a ''nodding acquaintanceship" his request of a book by the philosopher Spinoza from Bertie as a birthday-present, and his disdain for the rather bawdy songs Bertie often plays on the piano. This is not to say Jeeves is completely unbending; he is certainly much more open-minded than Bertie's rigid Aunt Agatha. As to skills, Jeeves' are as diverse as his intellect. In the pilot episode, within minutes of coming through the door, he has straightened out the disheveled drawing-room and prepared an excellent morning-after concoction for Bertie's hangover. Jeeves proves a superb housekeeper, cook and bartender. In addition, he shows great skill in bet-making and darts, both of which prove beneficial to Bertie in his leisure time. Jeeves is also a master of disguise, once pulling off the role of a female American novelist so convincingly that Darcy "Stilton" Cheesewright fell in love with him (something which annoyed Jeeves considerably). Category:Characters